Wednesday, March 27, 2013

My Interview With CINO Chris Matthews (Imaginary, of Course)

Chris: So, what business is it of yours if two people who really love each other want to marry?

Me: It's none of my business what two people do in the privacy of their homes but it is my business when society decides to sell what is essentially a disordered lifestyle as something normal. This is compounded by the fact that schools will be compelled to teach that this is something morally acceptable when in fact, it is not in the eyes of God. I don't want my children exposed to this kind of thinking.

Chris: So you think the divorce rate and people shacking up together is something morally acceptable in the eyes of God?

Me: I do not, and I freely acknowledge that the laxity on these issues has opened the barn door for the horse to get out. So (Chris interrupts)

Chris: So you admit these things are, at least in your eyes, morally unacceptable, but I don't hear you protesting them in front of the Supreme Court.

Me: Your argument is analogous to saying that because we didn't do anything about guns after Columbine we shouldn't do anything about them after Sandy Hook. To use my previous euphemism, just because the horse has left the barn doesn't mean we can't lock it to prevent the rest of the herd from following. Two wrongs don't make a right.

Chris: Who are you to say that two people of the same-sex loving each other is wrong?

Me: My basis for whether ANYTHING is right or wrong is grounded in Jesus Christ, not that which society decides is OK. Society has very little problem with fornication, adultery and pornography, too.

Chris: So you're comparing two people of the same-sex who love each other to pornographers?

Me: I've known some pornographers in my life who on the surface seemed like pretty nice people. For all intents and purposes, they were, but their wares do nothing to make someone a better person or help anyone on their journey to eternity.

Chris: I see, this is all about you shoving your religion down other people's throats.

Me: No, this is about you trying to shove your immorality down my children's throats and then decrying my right to protect them as hate speech and bias. This is about people like you selling poison and disguising it as nectar.

Chris: What about the children of gay and lesbian couples? Don't they have a say in this?

Me: I'm glad you brought that up. If you are brought up in a household which only associates with other households that are like yours, you might be inclined to believe the rest of the world lives as you do. Children who grow up with alcoholics but only ever see children of other alcoholics could conclude that it's normal for parents to drink excessively, with all the problems inherent in that. But let me ask you a question: How many of those gay and lesbian parents are both biologically the parents of those kids?

Chris: That's a ridiculous question that you know the answer to. So what you're saying is that the ability to have children is the only reason people should be permitted to marry?

Me: While it is is the foundation of marriage according to my faith, no it is not the only reason. But the manner in which gay and lesbians obtain children is itself a good indication of the disordered nature of their relationship, and this brings me back to other anomalies in society among heterosexual people that are treated like something normal. Manufacturing children in test tubes, and surrogate parenthood because of the infertility of one member of a married couple is also disordered and against the natural law predestined by God. That we have embryos sitting in deep freeze in laboratories isn't bad enough, now we have them manufactured so people for whom it is biologically IMPOSSIBLE to have children can insist that their relationship with one another is normal and then bringing children into the world through non-conventional means is their right. Some couples are infertile because one or both members have a broken system, if you will, for which reproduction is difficult to impossible. With two members of the same-sex, reproduction is ALWAYS going to be impossible, and that physical impossibility is the basis for why same-sex marriage is impossible. With heterosexuals the possibility at least exists.

Chris: I'm sitting here listening to this come out of your mouth and I have to tell you it's frightening to me that there are people like you in the world.

Me: I'm sitting here listening to you and I have to tell you I find it astounding that you call yourself Catholic yet know so shockingly little about your own faith.

Chris: Do you think you can speak for God on this issue? Do you really think so long as two people love each other and are productive members of society, that God condemns them?

Me: It is not for me to say who is and who isn't condemned. It is for me to make my relationship with God the most important relationship I have. My faith tells me it would be most displeasing to Him if I decided to take up with my neighbor because he is more attractive than my husband. My faith tells me it would be most displeasing to Him if I engaged in self-gratification whenever the urge struck. My faith tells me it would be most displeasing to Him if I married over and over again. My faith tells me it would be most displeasing to Him if I made anything or anyone more important than Him in my life. And I'm not going to apologize to you or anyone else for that, because I'm sick of the way people like you have twisted every moral issue in our society to your own benefit while completely disregarding God. People like you, who incidentally call themselves Catholic, have sold society on the notion that killing your own offspring is normal. Now you want to persuade us that two people of the same-sex fornicating, if you can call it that, is normal and that I'm a hateful person because I see it as disordered. Let me ask you a question. If someone in your family was drinking themselves to death, would you intervene, or would you say: "It's none of my business, his drinking isn't hurting me any?"

Chris: Wow, now you're comparing being a drunk to gays and lesbians wanting to marry. All I can say is how shocked I am.

Me: I asked you a question, would you intervene if someone you know, whose life has no bearing on yours, was doing something to destroy himself? If your neighbor decided to jump off a building, and you could possibly talk him out of it, would you say: "Oh, well, it's his business if he wants to kill himself, his death isn't going to affect me" or would you at least make an effort?

Chris: What could someone physically destroying themselves possibly have to do with gay marriage?

Me: Same-sex sexual relationships are as destructive to the soul, and sometimes even the body, as drinking one's self to death or hurling one's self off a building. You know, once again, I go back to the fact that you often brag on this show that you are a Catholic. If you belong to the Church, you belong to the Mystical Body of Christ, and what hurts one of us hurts all of us. My prayer for you Chris is that you realize this and get off this collision course you're on with imperiling your soul and others who listen to you.

Chris: You're a hateful dangerous person and I don't know how you live with yourself.

Me: No, I am someone who knows that love is a choice, not a feeling, and sometimes love is tough, like having to watch a child receive a painful injection to protect them against a disease, or cutting a child off financially because they're spending their money on drugs. I'll stick with my definition of love and marriage and pray for your conversion.

12 comments:

You know this guy pretty well! However, I think he may not give you as much opportunity to finish a sentence. Especially when you have a great answer for all of his blustery name calling and faux outrage.

Oh, my, I will be waiting for my phone to ring with a personal invitation to appear on Hardball - NOT! They never invite people who know what they're talking about to be their guests. I heard Don Lemon on CNN was pretty obnoxious yesterday to one of his guests as well. What can we do except keep speaking the truth?

Thanks Patricia but I have to tell you I am so fed up with people on Facebook adopting the marriage equality symbol as their profile picture, and I'm talking about those who call themselves Catholic. It's just shocking that the week we commemorate the Passion of Christ He is being denied all over again, repeatedly. I'm just sickened by it but I'm not giving in to the societal pressure to say this is OK. One thing I would have added to my imaginary argument with Chris - when you fill out any kind of demographic information, the only choices are male and female. Where did this LGBT stuff come from? And how long before LBGT is added to gender choices? And how much longer is God going to put up with this?

Joyce, FB is the one thing I did manage to give up for Lent, so I've been spared the revulsion of the equal signs, but have read about them elsewhere. This afternoon, I was reading a priest's blog, and couldn't believe all the comments from "Catholics" saying how "tolerant" Our Lord was, and insisting that He would want everyone to be treated "equally." It's enough to make your head explode. I do not feel optimistic about DOMA being upheld, and like you, I wonder how much more God will put up with. You have a most holy Easter Triduum too. Hope you get to visit many churches tomorrow night. Blessings always, dear Joyce....and thanks for the chuckles today xoxo

My goodness Joyce, that really sounded like Chris Matthews! I loved it and you had me laughing with this, "(Chris interrupts)." Hahaha, just like him and you could have probably sprinkled in a few more. Like Patricia, there is no way I could watch Hardball or anything else for that matter on that station.

Manny and Caroline,Thank you both for your rave reviews :) The truth is my husband hasn't reached the point of the journey yet where I stand, so he often watches Hardball, accompanied by my running commentary of everything that is wrong with what is said and portrayed. I do turn it off at times or leave the room, but the most part, when I do listen, I can offer correction. All part of MARRYING your cross :)Blessed and peaceful Good Friday to you Manny and Caroline, I will remember your intentions all day today as I know you will remember mine. Love and prayers,Joyce

Comments which reflect true Christian charity are always welcome. Comments which attack the Pope, the Church, priests or other bloggers will go in the dustbin, especially if they are anonymous. Thank you and God Bless you!

Abortion is America's Holocaust

"It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish" - Blessed Mother Teresa

O Mary, Conceived Without Sin

Pray for us who have recourse to thee

The Traditional Latin Mass

The Closest Thing to Heaven on Earth

The Struggle of This Soul

"Jesus, we are sensitive to words and quickly want to answer back, without taking any regard as to whether it's God's will that we should speak. A silent soul is strong: No adversities will harm it if it perseveres in silence. The silent soul is capable of attaining the closest union with God." St. Faustina

Mary, Queen of Peace

Ever glorious and blessed Mary, Queen of Virgins, Mother of Mercy, hope and comfort of dejected and desolate souls, through that sword of sorrow which pierced thy tender heart whilst thine only Son, Christ Jesus, our Lord, suffered death and ignominy on the cross; through that filial tenderness and pure love He had for thee, grieving in thy grief, whilst from His cross He recommended thee to the care and protection of His beloved disciple, St. John, take pity, I beseech thee, on my poverty and necessities; have compassion on my anxieties and cares; assist and comfort me in all my infirmities and miseries, of every kind whatsoever. Thou art the Mother of Mercies, the sweet comforter and only refuge of the needy and the orphan, of the desolate and afflicted. Cast, therefore, an eye of pity on a miserable, forlorn child of Eve, and hear my prayer; for since, in just punishment of my sins, I find myself encompassed by a multitude of evils, and oppressed with much anguish of spirit, wither can I fly for more secure shelter, O amiable Mother of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, than under the wings of thy maternal protection? Attend, therefore, I beseech thee, with an ear of pity and compassion, to my humble and earnest request. I ask it, through the bowels of mercy of thy dear Son; Through that love and condescension wherewith He embraced our nature, when, in compliance with the divine Will, thou gavest thy consent, and whom, after the expiration of nine months thou didst bring forth from the chaste enclosure of thy womb, to visit the world, and bless it with His presence. I ask it, through that anguish of mind wherewith thy beloved Son, our dear Saviour, was overwhelmed on the Mount of Olives, when He besought His eternal Father to remove from Him, if possible, the bitter chalice of His future passion. I ask it, through the threefold repetition of His prayers in the garden, whence afterwards, with dolorous steps and mournful tears, thou didst accompany Him to the doleful theatre of His death and sufferings. I ask it, through the welts and bruises of His virginal flesh, occasioned by the cords and whips wherewith He was bound and scourged, when stripped of His seamless garment, for which His executioners afterwards cast lots. I ask it, through the scoffs and ignominies by which He was insulted; the false accusations and unjust sentence by which He was condemned to death, and which He bore with heavenly patience. I ask it, through His bitter tears and bloody sweat; His silence and resignation; His sadness and grief of heart. I ask it, through the blood which trickled from His royal and Sacred Head, when struck with the sceptre of a reed and pierced with His crown of thorns. I ask it, through the excruciating torments He suffered, when His hands and feet were fastened with gross nails to the tree of the cross. I ask it, through His vehement thirst, and bitter potion of vinegar and gall. I ask it, through His dereliction on the cross when He exclaimed, "My God! my God! why hast Thou forsaken me?" I ask it, through His mercy extended to the good thief, and through His recommending His precious soul and spirit into the hands of His eternal Father before He expired, saying, "It is consummated." I ask it, through the blood mixed with water, which issued from His Sacred Side when pierced with a lance, and whence a flood of grace and mercy has flowed to us. I ask it, through His immaculate life, bitter passion and ignominious death on the cross, at which nature itself was thrown into convulsions, by the bursting of rocks, rending of the veil of the Temple, the earthquake, and the darkness of the sun and moon. I ask it, through His descent into hell, where He confronted the Saints of the old law with His presence, and led the captivity captive. I ask it, through His glorious victory over death, when He arose again to life on the third day, and through the joy which His appearance for forty days after gave thee, His blessed Mother, His Apostles, and the rest of His Disciples; when in thine and their presence He miraculously ascended into heaven. I ask it, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, infused into the hearts of His Disciples, when He descended upon them in the form of fiery tongues, and by which they were inspired with zeal in the conversion of the world, when they went to preach the gospel. I ask it, through the awful appearance of thy Son, at the last dreadful day, when He shall come to judge the living and the dead, and the world, by fire. I ask it, through the compassion He bore thee in His life, and the unspeakable joy thou didst feel at thine assumption into heaven, where thou art eternally absorbed in the sweet contemplation of His divine perfections. O glorious and ever blessed Virgin! comfort the heart of thy supplicant, by obtaining for me, (Mention your prayer intention here...) And as I am persuaded my Divine Saviour doth honour thee as His beloved Mother, to whom He refuses nothing, because thou asketh nothing contrary to His honour, so let me speedily experience the efficacy of thy powerful intercession, according to the tenderness of thy maternal affection, and His filial loving heart, who mercifully granteth the requests and complieth with the desires of those that love and fear Him. Wherefore, O most blessed Virgin, beside the object of my present petition, and whatever else I may stand in need of, obtain for me also of thy dear Son, our Lord and our God, a lively faith, firm hope, perfect charity, true contrition of heart, unfeigned tears of compunction, sincere confession, condign satisfaction, abstinence from sin, love of God and my neighbour, contempt of the world, patience to suffer affronts and ignominies, nay, even, if necessary, an opprobrious death itself, for love of thy Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Obtain likewise for me, O sacred Mother of God, perseverance in good works, performance of good resolutions, mortification of self-will, a pious conversation through life, and, at my last moments, strong and sincere repentance, accompanied by such a lively and attentive presence of mind, as may enable me to receive the last Sacrament of the Church worthily, and die in thy friendship and favour. Lastly, obtain through thy Son, I beseech thee, for the souls of my parents, brethren, relatives and benefactors, both living and dead, life everlasting, from the only Giver of every good and perfect gift, the Lord God Almighty, to Whom be all power now and forever. Amen.

St Michael the Archangel

Glorious prince, chief and champion of the Heavenly Host, guardian of the souls of men, conqueror of the rebel angels, steward of the palace of God under Jesus Christ, our worthy leader, endowed with superhuman excellence and virtue, free us from every ill who with full confidence have recourse to thee and by thine incomparable protection, enable us to make progress every day in the faithful service of our God. Amen

St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi

To suffer, not to die!

St. Teresa Benedicta of The Cross

You perfected the science of the cross at the hour of your martyrdom, pray for us who have recourse to you

Merciful Father, in the name of Thy Sweet Jesus, of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of all the Saints, I beg Thee to consume my sister with Thy Spirt of Love and to grant her the grace to make Thee greatly loved. Amen

Ecstasy of St. Teresa of Jesus

Incorrupt Body of St. Bernadette of Lourdes

Prayer of St. Bonaventure

Pierce, O most sweet Lord Jesus, my inmost soul with the most joyous and healthful wound of Thy love, and with true, calm and most holy apostolic charity, that my soul may ever languish and melt with entire love and longing for Thee, may yearn for Thee and for thy courts, may long to be dissolved and to be with Thee.Grant that my soul may hunger after Thee, the Bread of Angels, the refreshment of holy souls, our daily and super substantial bread, having all sweetness and savor and every delightful taste.May my heart ever hunger after and feed upon Thee, Whom the angels desire to look upon, and may my inmost soul be filled with the sweetness of Thy savor; may it ever thirst for Thee, the fountain of life, the fountain of wisdom and knowledge, the fountain of eternal light, the torrent of pleasure, the fullness of the house of God;may it ever compass Thee, seek Thee, find Thee, run to Thee, come up to Thee, meditate on Thee, speak of Thee, and do all for the praise and glory of Thy name, with humility and discretion, with love and delight, with ease and affection, with perseverance to the end; and be Thou alone ever my hope, my entire confidence, my riches, my delight, my pleasure, my joy, my rest and tranquility, my peace, my sweetness, my food, my refreshment, my refuge, my help, my wisdom, my portion, my possession, my treasure; in Whom may my mind and my heart be ever fixed and firm and rooted immovably. Amen.

Remember Your Guardian Angel

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